A sense of excitement buzzes around the workshop shed, as hundreds of hours of preparation near an end.

It has the hectic atmosphere that one would imagine Santa's workshop would have in the lead-up to Christmas.

Colourful characters make up the dedicated creative team - under festival director Jyllie Jackson - that will deliver dozens of lanterns for Saturday night's parade.

One man even walks into Lismore from Dunoon to be a part of it all.

And with people from Germany, Italy, Sudan, Thailand and the Himalayas working alongside Indigenous Australians and born-and-bred locals, Jyllie says her team is an interesting and diverse group of people.

"We try and have a culture in the workshop where everybody is accepted and there are people from all different walks of life.

"It's a really wonderful collection of people."

Originally from France, 23-year-old Anais Malot says she originally became involved because she was unemployed and looking for projects to become involved in.

She's now been volunteering for five months.

"To work here you kind of have to have a sprinkle of madness," she says.

And while the exact character will remain a surprise, that wildness is reflected in the new lantern she's designed for this year's parade.

With an annual festival that attracts thousands, each year organisers need to think about how they can make the parade better than the last.

This year's festival incorporates a project with Lismore City Council, which has randomly selected community members and asked them for their hopes and dreams for the future of the city and its surrounds.

Jyllie says these ideas will be incorporated in the fiery finale.

"One part of that will be people carrying hope chests which are boxes that they themselves have made which reflect some element personally of their hopes for the future."

This year's parade will start at the river and end at Oakes Oval.

The large lantern that will form the finale centrepiece is another surprise.

All Jyllie will reveal is that it's big and white.

"It's the biggest one we've built here in Lismore, it's going to take 30 or 40 people to carry."